SACD vs a remastered CD?

[seaside1]

Is there really any sound quality difference between an SACD version of an album and a remastered version? For example lets use the new "Nevermind" remaster. Would an SACD of the original album still sound better than the new remastered version?

 

[markw]

Apples to oranges.

It aint necessarially the difference between redbook CD and SACD that makes a magnitude of difference.

I've heard some spectacularly wonderful redbook CD's.

There's no guarantee that a SACD isn't remastered in itself. In fact, that's how Sony introduced the CD when it was first introduced. They remastered the music, put it on a SACD, and told everyone that it's being a SACD was what made the difference.

It wasn't. People got wise.

After the inevitable early-adoptor rush, you'll notice that SACD didn't exactly take the world by storm, even with all the great press it generated.

 

[j_garcia]

With SACD it entirely depends on the mix and the master. If the master is good and the engineer knows how to get the most out of it and get it onto SACD, then yes the SACD would likely be the best thing you could get.

My example is Jazz at the Pawnshop, definitely one of the best recordings ever. Even the redbook sounds as good as most SACDs I own. I have the SACD of this also and though there is a subtle improvement, it isn't a night and day difference.

The chance of seeing Nevermind on SACD is zero though, since pretty much nobody is putting out SACDs at this point. The very few people who were good at mixing for SACD or DVD-A are no doubt already onto other things, so there's likely little chance of those formats making a comeback. On the other hand, Blu-ray Audio make take its place.

 

[seaside1]

Thanks for the info. I was just curious. I've never heard of Jazz at the Pawnshop, I'll have to check it out.
SS1

 

[seaside1]

Wow that's a pricey CD. And there's five versions of it;
1) 1996 Audio CD
2) 2003 Audio CD
3) 2003 Import Hybrid SACD-DSD
4) 2009 30th Anniversary Edition Box Set (Hybrid SACD-DSD)
5) 2010 K2HD Mastered Version

 

[jliedeka]

I don't have a link but I read about a study a while back. SACDs were run into a DAC which downconverted to 16/44k. Listening test were conducted between the downconverted SACDs and normal CDs. The result that there was only a slight preference for SACDs which was probably explained by better mastering.

In theory, using more bits to encode music should make it better. In practice, 16 bits is more dynamic range than our amplifiers and speakers can reproduce (96 dB). There's no benefit to having more. Plus, a lot of CDs are mastered with huge amounts of compression that you probably only need about 4 bits anyway. In the case of well mastered classical music, there could be more dynamic range but our gear couldn't reproduce it anyway.

Jim

 

[j_garcia]

The main benefits of SACD (in some cases) were the mulichannel mixes. Some discs were amazing, while others were complete failures.

The 2ch tracks on most are impressive though, but again, whether or not it is an improvement over the CD widely varies. I have some that are clearly better than the redbook and others that sound no different. On the best discs, what will typically stand out will be more subtle detail, more depth or width of soundstage. Often there will have been a remaster done when they did a SACD so in some cases, that alone could account for the improvements, especially if it was a good master.

 

[Pyrrho]

Is there really any sound quality difference between an SACD version of an album and a remastered version? For example lets use the new "Nevermind" remaster. Would an SACD of the original album still sound better than the new remastered version?

With quite a few SACDs, they are discrete 5.1 channels, and that sounds different from a 2 channel version. If done well, and if played back on a good system that is properly calibrated, it sounds better than 2 channels. But if you are listening to a 2 channel SACD and a 2 channel CD, if there is an audible difference, it is almost certainly in the mastering. Of course, you may never be able to buy the same mastered version on both, and so you might get better sound on the SACD because of that.